Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

It is good news. We have also committed more in public transportation infrastructure than all of our predecessors since Federation combined. In five short years, Labor has turned around declining investment in the nation's infrastructure and begun building for the future. We have replaced the neglect, buck-passing and short-termism by the Liberals and Nationals with a comprehensive national plan—unlike what the Liberals have demonstrated. That is why, in this budget, the federal Labor government is injecting a further $24 billion into our Nation Building Program. This takes our investment in the nation's road, rail and urban public transport to a record $60 billion over the 11 years to 2018-19. But the job is not finished there; there is more to be done.

This year's budget will get the missing link between the F3 and M2 in Sydney to market within months. We will assist the New South Wales government to deliver the M4 and M5 extension, in partnership with the private sector. In Brisbane, in my home city, Labor will upgrade and widen the Gateway Motorway to six lanes between Nudgee Road and the Deagon Deviation. In Melbourne, we are investing to widen the M80 to a minimum of three lanes, in both directions, and to install the latest technology for managing traffic flows along the entire corridor. In Adelaide, we will upgrade and widen South Road between Torrens Road and the River Torrens. In Perth, we will see the construction of the Swan Valley bypass, which will replace the Great Northern Highway as the main freight route for going in and out of the city from the north. (Time expired)